


Throw Down Your Fears

by lopsidedhead



Series: Everybody's Watching Me [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Original Work
Genre: Angst, Backstory, Finished!, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, My First Fanfic, OC backstory, So Bear With me, a character passes out, actually a little tiny bit of comfort but like not much so don't get your hopes up, actually multiple do, i haven't written since mid-november, in the words of bdg "precocious magic babies", inspired by hermitcraft, minesona, no beta testing we die like men, people are magic and also robots, pretty shaky with my writing, whump?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:41:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24440764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lopsidedhead/pseuds/lopsidedhead
Summary: Lia shouted from ahead of her, teeth chattering slightly from the cold of the Void. And she was true to her word - as the fog ahead of them cleared slightly, Bearcub could see the silhouette of a building staining the horizon, its shape thin yet sprawling. From behind her, she heard Nighthart and Demon gasp as they advanced over the endstone towards the building and its silhouette became more pronounced, Demon almost tripping over her own feet as she stared.A tale of adventurers.
Series: Everybody's Watching Me [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1805410
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, if you didn't read the tags:  
> This is the first bit of writing I've done since November. It's pretty shaky and I'm holding myself to far too many standards, but here it is, I guess. I don't currently plan on expanding this after it's done, hence the one-shot tag, but that may change in the future. Enjoy :)  
> Edit: it changed :) it ain't a oneshot anymore!

He knew he couldn't take much more.

Over the last few hours (days? It was hard to tell in the Void) he had been exploring something new: a giant mass of purpur and endstone, sprawling out of the ground from a singular point much like the scraggly lilac-coloured chorus trees that sprouted around the base of the tower. A single branch came off one of the sides of the tower, and beyond it: a ship, floating in the thin air. It was like nothing Lops had ever seen, and he had to check it out for himself.

The endermen were one thing. Over his time in the endless wastes of the End, Lops had learnt how to avoid their gaze; even though he was still terrified of them like he had been since the day he was born, at least he knew how to not get killed by them. These… creatures (?) that laid within the tower, however, were an entirely different beast altogether. Shells so thick that his arrows just bounced off and projectiles that elevated him to bone-shattering heights if he wasn't careful. He'd already come too close to death too many times. But finally, _finally_ , he was standing at the edge of a platform framed by an archway, the mysterious ship floating just a couple dozen blocks away. With a well-timed pearl, his legs creaked as he landed just shy of a staircase leading down into the belly of the ship.

Careful not to meet eyes with the enderman casually standing in the stairwell, Lops eyed up the stand perched precariously on a purpur block. There was a handful of potions within glass bottles, all a deep red colour. Well, it couldn't hurt to take them, right? And so he stored them away in his inventory, even if he didn't know what they could do to him.

\----

"Land ahoy!"

"Lia, there is land everywhere, what are you talking about?" Bearcub sighed. She was peering into the infinite darkness, searching for anything to _do_. Bearcub was bored - bored of pillaring across the giant gaps in the land, bored of the yellow endstone and of the lack of things to see other than stinking endermen, and she wanted to go home.

"No, I mean different land! Look!" Lia shouted from ahead of her, teeth chattering slightly from the cold of the Void. And she was true to her word - as the fog ahead of them cleared slightly, Bearcub could see the silhouette of a building staining the horizon, its shape thin yet sprawling. From behind her, she heard Nighthart and Demon gasp as they advanced over the endstone towards the building and its silhouette became more pronounced, Demon almost tripping over her own feet as she stared.

The building was giant, towering above even Lia - the tallest of the ragtag group of friends. It blossomed out from the bottom, almost defying the laws of gravity as it spread its wings out into the Void. The purpur and endstone that made its walls was dull but stood out from its surroundings like nothing else. Even more gravity-defying was its companion, a floating ship that was almost bigger than the wreckages that could be found in the Overworld. Lia grinned, flicked her long purple hair behind her shoulders, and turned to the rest of the group expectantly.

"So? What are we waiting for?" And with nothing more to say, she bounded in the direction of the monstrous city, almost running smack-dab into an angry enderman. Chuckling and glancing at each other, the three girls set off in pursuit, if only to make sure Lia didn't get into _too_ much trouble without them.

\----

Lops glanced into the main room of the ship and groaned as he noticed the main event: another one of the weird shelled beasts guarding some chests. The ship was hollow, with the only light being provided by the faint glow of the Void leaking through holes in the sides, and a cold glow emitted from a weird stick behind the creature. He took the quiet moment before it noticed him to scope out what he could see behind it. Something whirred in his head when he noticed that along with the chests, there was… something hanging on the wall? What looked like a pair of shimmering white wings were hanging on a hook behind the creature, swaying slightly to an undetectable wind. The light from the stick above it was reflected in all sorts of muted colours, making the wings' feathers glimmer. 

They were _beautiful_. And Lops just _knew_ he had to get his hands on them.

Notching an arrow and drawing the string of his bow back, he prepared to charge.

\----

The weird city was strangely quiet.

Nighthart had at least been expecting a fight. The jittering that had plagued her since she first entered a world had just gotten worse in this strange new dimension with its cold and darkness, and her memory problems and zoning out were steadily getting worse too, but she was raring to go if it meant getting rid of the frustration she built up on the journey, having to listen to Lia and Bearcub bicker the whole way. She definitely was _not_ going to let the others know that she was feeling a lot weaker than when they left. She couldn't face that.

Demon wasn't having much fun, but she was trying her best to make the most of it. She had barely even entered the world - her first world - when she was armoured up and told she would be joining the others on an adventure. She decided that she would be better off sticking with these new friends, but at the first sign of danger she would run. After all, Demon had never fought anything much more threatening than a sheep.

Bearcub was having a slightly better time than Nighthart and Demon, but not by much. At least this tower was more fun than just walking through the dimension, and thanks to her fur she wasn't as cold as the others either. She made a point to stare riiiight underneath the range where an enderman would get angry, just because she could - a fight would definitely make this trip more interesting, after all.

Lia was having the time of her life! Galloping through the wide hallways and almost slipping on the parkour-like steps leading up the tower, the others had difficulty following her. She had been the first one to spot a magical new structure! Not to mention this whole trip was because of her too! The excitement was almost enough to mask her panic as her Admin power slowly faded away.

Almost.

Reaching a crossroads, Lia stopped to take in her surroundings, letting the girls behind her start to catch up. She had come up from a spiral staircase. Two of the paths - left and right - were obvious dead ends with no life in sight. One in front of her led to another branch of the tower that rose even further up into the Void. And the one behind her… well, the one behind her led to a small purpur archway, and beyond it the giant floating ship. Smiling to herself, Lia made her decision, turned 180 degrees, and began briskly walking towards the archway, shouting to her friends as she went.


	2. 2

Lops' fight was not going well in the slightest, and he knew it.

Within the first five seconds his precious bow had snapped, the pieces catapulting into his face with a crack as they let out their tension. It served him right for not checking its condition before rushing into the fight, he reasoned with himself, his senses screaming at him. Luckily the shelled creature hadn't quite realised he was there yet, but that changed when the broken bow clattered onto the ground, the sound echoing around the purpur walls. Before he could react, a white projectile had set its trajectory and slammed into his face, blinding him and causing him to drift towards the roof. A rare cry of pain escaped him as he hit the ceiling, his large eyes squashed up against the purpur which pulsed with teleportation energy. He felt frazzled, like his eyes were full of static. As he attempted to get his bearings, another projectile hit him square in the back, pushing him further into the roof and almost tearing his pristine white suit. His bowtie rubbed against the ceiling, threatening to dislodge itself and fall to the floor below.

Lops could feel his energy drain as he realised he had nowhere to go. Would he fall apart on this ceiling, drifting until the shelled creature got bored and let him drop? The levitation effect was so strong that, without somehow getting to the floor, he wouldn’t be able to reach the creature with the backup sword that was strapped to his back.

As he heard the hiss of a third projectile preparing to fire, he remembered the potions.

\----

"Lia! Slow down!" Bearcub cried, even her stamina beginning to fail. As she paused at the top of a spiral staircase to catch her breath, she wondered why she had even agreed to come on this trip. It’s not like there was anything to fight other than endermen, considering her and Lia had already killed the dragon weeks ago. She wished Nighthart had been able to come fight the dragon too - the two were well-accustomed to fighting together and they had been bounty hunters in a previous world - but Nighthart had been in bed recovering from a particularly bad patch of lag that had her hovering over a lava pit for a whole night. Lia had dragged Nighthart into this adventure, although Bearcub reasoned that without Nighthart there she probably would’ve gone back home by now out of pure boredom.

Lag was a condition that Nighthart had been used to for years, ever since she joined her first world. The deja vu and the shaking and the gaps in her memory had just become part of her experiences, and although sometimes it did end up with her passing out in the middle of a battle she’d learnt to power through it. But now, struggling against legs that felt like jelly, she regretted agreeing to come on this journey at all. This weird city place was cool and all, but she felt like any moment she would pass out and the biting cold and the thin air of the Void was starting to get to her, making her head swim. Swaying as she pulled herself tiredly up the next step, tunnel vision began to descend, locking her vision onto the back of a heavily-breathing Bearcub. She tried to make a sound, to cry out, to warn her friends, but nothing would come out of her mouth, not even her breath.

The last thing Nighthart saw was the world tipping underneath her, and then her vision fading away to darkness.

\----

Pulling out the stopper on one of the three bottles he’d grabbed from the stand, a hiss of red mist escaped. It had a heady, bittersweet smell unlike anything Lops had experienced that made his head feel just a little less full of static than before. With the newfound energy he managed to turn himself around, spilling a few drops of the liquid to the floor far below as he shifted onto his back. In this position the levitation effect felt like it was crushing his chest, not quite removing his ability to breathe but causing his senses to scream at him to move. With all the strength that remained in his body, he chucked the potion directly at the shell of the creature, timed perfectly for when it opened up, a faintly glowing projectile almost ready to launch. As the glass bottle shattered right in the centre of the creature, the shards impaled the small orb-like _thing_ in the middle, and Lops heard an otherworldly shriek of pain unlike anything he'd heard before. To his horror, however, as the potion that had been within the bottle hit the creature the wounds stitched themselves back up, the shards of glass stuck within the sphere almost swallowed up by the red liquid before the shell snapped shut.

"So it heals." Lops muttered to himself, wondering why he even tried in moments like these.

But before he could even think about using one of the precious potions on himself, the levitation wore off, and with a sickening crunch Lops was slammed into the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, Nighthart :(  
> A shorter chapter, but one that finishes in a logical place.  
> I'd like some feedback on the pacing of this chapter. Reading it over, the pacing seems a bit weird, but I'm not sure if that's just because I've read it so many times.


	3. 3

_She is floating in the Void._

_Her eyes open, yet she cannot see._

_Eyeballs dart around in their sockets, attempting to make sense of the darkness._

_In the distance, black holes make themselves known through the swallowing of supermassive stars, light spiralling around a point of absolute nothingness._

_Eons away, supernovas flicker, their light barely reaching the flower that blooms on the girl's head._

_A hand reaches out from the stars. She recognises it, yet cannot place the memory._

_A white suit. Dark, desaturated skin._

_When she grabs the hand, there is nothing but cold and metal and darkness._

_\----_

Demon didn't know what the hell she was looking at, but she knew it probably wasn't good.

"B- Bearcub!" She could almost hear the teddy bear's breathless sigh, even from halfway down the staircase.

"What?" Bearcub groaned, not even turning around from the top of the stairs. She had her eyes fixed on a specific branch of the crossroads, making sure Lia didn't do something stupid like fall off the city.

"Come back down! S-s-something's wrong with Nighthart!" Demon stuttered. Bearcub immediately turned to look down the staircase, the panic entering her usually calm black eyes visible even from where Demon stood.

Her gaze was immediately pulled to a figure draped across the air, one foot on the edge of the staircase and the other hanging on nothing. Nighthart's arms were hanging almost limp underneath her, yet still looking like they were resting on something. The flower usually fixed in her loose hazel-coloured hair was stuck in freefall, having come slightly undone. Nighthart's entire body was quivering like a leaf and at least a few shades paler than normal, a glassy stare fixed on Bearcub and almost boring into her soul. Far below, the Void darkly glimmered, only a few dozen meters away from claiming her in its grasp.

Bearcub wrenched her gaze away from her friend after what seemed like an age. Demon was still just standing there, looking almost as pale as Nighthart's floating body.

"Lia! Come back! We've got trouble!"

\----

Lia couldn't hear a thing.

Gaze fixed on the physics-defying ship in front of her, Lia rummaged through her inventory for more blocks. Damn! The one time she needed some, and she only had two cobblestone. Plus, she couldn't just destroy the city with her pickaxe for more - this was obviously an important monument! She made a mental note to herself to write down the coordinates or something - this place definitely needed further study. Maybe she could even set up a base out here! Shrugging and humming to herself, she placed down those two blocks over the Void and a crafting table for good luck, and started thinking about how she could get over there. She'd picked up a couple ender pearls along the way from various endermen that decided they wanted a fight, including one that had almost knocked her into the Void. They pulsed with magic - something Lia had… _experience_ with, memories of other worlds tucked carefully out of sight beginning to re-emerge when she reached for the pearls. Taking them out of the depths of her inventory and idly tossing one of the precious pearls in her hand for a few seconds, weighing the pros and cons in her mind, she made her decision.

She backed up five or ten steps, nodding to herself and quietly muttering some words of encouragement. The pearl felt heavy, her hand becoming clammy as she psyched herself up. She hated using pearls. Teleportation was never nice, and pearls were definitely one of the worst ways to do it. But she was going to do it anyway.

Staring straight at where she wanted the pearl to land, Lia began to run.

Picking up speed, she was acutely aware of how thin the air was. She'd definitely hurt after this.

As she reached the point of no return, a scream pierced her ears. A friend's scream.

Her name.

Lia tried to stop, to skid to a halt, but failed, her legs already set on their course. On instinct, she let go of the pearl, the magic leaving her.

It travelled in a shallow arc, almost in slow motion, two sets of eyes transfixed on its journey.

Lia's face hit the purpur, _hard_. There was a shout behind her, a name, maybe an expletive, but her head was somewhere else.

The last Lia saw before starting to fall was a strange sphere-shaped creature within a lilac shell, staring at her with a faint white glow.

\----

_The cold metal hand pulls her forward, into the stars._

_Here, more is visible. The supernovas around her are brighter, their colours more vibrant. Black holes almost shimmer with pure power._

_More of the hand is visible too. An arm in the same white suit. A black bowtie. Neon blue. Green, somewhere.  
_

_She wonders if this is death._

_The black holes seem to surround her head, forcing her to close her eyes._

_The metal grasps at her hand, and more clutches her shoulder._

_"You have to save us."_

\----

Bearcub couldn't quite believe what her friend was doing.

Lia had been oblivious to the calls of her name, in one of her quiet spells again where she wouldn't respond to anything but the most extreme. Still, Bearcub shouted, not wanting to leave Nighthart but also absolutely needing Lia to just _step away from the edge, no what are you doing don't don't don't don't-_

She tried a final scream, a final shout of Lia's name leaving her lips, and she already knew she had made a mistake.

In slow motion, Bearcub saw the recognition in Lia's body language. She also saw the pearl fly out of her hand prematurely, and even before it found its target she knew where it would hit.

Bearcub tried to cry out, tried to run forwards before it was too late, but all that reached her lips was Lia's name, screamed into the thin Void air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is exactly 1000 words... pog.


	4. 4

Shaking, Demon stared at Bearcub with wide eyes. She had no idea what was going on, but from the look on Bearcub’s face she knew it couldn’t have been good. Her focus divided between her thoughts that were slowly spiralling into what happened to Lia to make Bearcub shout so much and the body of her new-found friend lying in the air, Demon missed Nighthart’s eyes flashing pure black, then quickly closing.

\----

_A question flows from her mouth._

_“Who are you?”_

_No answer. The metal is silent._

_The Void clears from her eyes, rushing away like water._

_Purple surrounds her, the Void all but gone. Instead, there lies a body. Broken and unmoving, cogs sticking out where bones would be, she faintly hears the metal sigh. Glass shards rest on the floor, crimson liquid flowing from beneath the body and staining its clothes. A shelled creature rests on one side of the room, a faint white glow emitted from its centre._

_The metal clasping her arm and hand lets go, just for a second, and the scene changes._

_She is floating. Below her is Void, the same supernovas that benevolently blinked at her now awaiting her return to their deadly grasp. Above, another familiar form, falling in place. Hair in deep purple hues framing lapis eyes, grey and black clothes not meant to withstand the cold fog of the Void. A name springs to her mind this time, hesitating before it leaves her lips._

_“Lia.”_

_“Do you understand?”_

_“Yes.”_

_A strangely familiar feeling rushes through her veins._

_“It’s time to save them.”_

\----

Bearcub was expecting the message to pop up at any moment. She didn’t know how far up they were, but they were _definitely_ out over the void, and she knew that wasn’t survivable. But it never came. Her communicator never beeped, and for a minute she was just standing there, adrenaline pumping through her veins. Eventually she brought herself to approach the edge framed by the small archway, the cobble and crafting table Lia placed still hanging out across the gap.

When she looked down, she didn’t quite know what to expect, but what she definitely did not expect was a body.

Lia was floating over the Void, much like Nighthart, except more upright thanks to the method in which she’d gotten herself there. It was almost as if she had just stepped off an invisible block - arms just barely raised, legs almost level with where a block would be. Bearcub couldn’t see Lia’s face from this angle, but her violet hair was suspended in various heights, like not all of it had been falling the same speed. Close to where she was floating, a faintly glowing white projectile was also suspended, seemingly just centimetres away from hitting Lia.

Eyes wide, all Bearcub could do was whisper to herself, “what the fuck?”

\----

Sitting on the steps, Demon sighed.

While Bearcub was investigating whatever had happened - she didn't dare ask - Demon had put a couple of blocks a few metres below Nighthart, hoping they would be enough to avoid a tumble into the Void. She'd also been very careful not to nudge the floating girl, in case her touch somehow caused her to fall.

In all honesty, Demon thought to herself, she had absolutely no idea why she came on this adventure. She had appeared at the spawn of this world in the middle of the night, and by the next sunset she was armoured up to the nines and told she was coming to the End, whatever _that_ was. No matter that she could barely fight anything, no matter that she still had no idea where she was or why she was in the world, she was going.

In hindsight, Demon knew she should've put her foot down and said no. She should've told the others the same reasons she now flicked through in her head, and maybe they would've let her stay. There wasn't even anyone left to tend to the farms!

Demon sprung up off her feet, suddenly restless. Pacing up and down a few steps, her head felt light, the Void air not quite enough to get enough oxygen around her body. The feeling just made her panic more.

Hyperventilating, Demon put a hand out towards Nighthart to steady herself.

Her hand didn't hit anything, and she almost stumbled, before suddenly a cloud of blackness enveloped her vision and her senses shut down.

In her incapacitated state, she couldn't have heard the soft thump of a body hitting cobblestone.

She also couldn't have seen a girl with a flower in her hair and pure black eyes curl up into a ball, sobbing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry Nighthart :((  
> This chapter is exactly 777 words long. Lucky, eh?


	5. 5

_Darkness is running through her veins._

_It streams down her face, staining the pale skin, dripping onto her brown hair and turning it the same colour as the Void that fills her bloodstream._

_Overwhelming._

_Yet familiar. Comforting._

_Memories begin to rush into her head like a river bursting its banks. Memories of a time when she wasn’t truly Nighthart, when she wasn't weak and shaky on her feet, when she didn't dwell in a stuffy place like the Overworld._

_Memories of a time when she Watched._

_\----_

Gasping for air, Lia sat up with a start.

The first thing she saw was purpur, and lots of it - in fact, not much else. Square windows let through the constant heavy glow of the Void, and the hints of a different cool glow edged into her vision. She was facing a lilac pillar, patterned similarly to the city she'd been exploring… when?

Lia realised she had no idea how she had gotten where she was.

Around her, there was the sound of rustling clothes on purpur, and turning around Lia sighed in relief. Both Bearcub and Demon were lying on the cold lavender-coloured floor, in similar states of confusion. Demon's eyes were screwed shut, a hand out to her right as if trying to grab something, and a black stain on her yellow mask. Meanwhile, Bearcub just looked dazed, eyes closed, her fur ruffled and her arm stained the same deep black as Demon's mask. The cool glow in Lia's peripheral vision was stronger now, and shuffling to turn a bit more she could pinpoint the source: a strange white stick much like the ones dotted around the city. Underneath it, a pair of shimmering white wings swayed gently to the rhythm of the Void, its feathers pristine and unruffled.

As her eyes wandered downwards toward the black-shelled creature sitting on the floor in front of the wings, Lia's memories hit her like an anvil. The ship. The ender pearl, and the feeling of magic leaving her body as the pearl flew. Her face on purpur. A shelled beast staring at her, and a projectile only a metre or two from her face.

Quickly shaking off the memories, Lia realised there was something on the floor just in front of her.

A body laid face-down on the purpur floor. Completely bald, there was strange long holes on the sides of the body's neck, almost like mesh; Lia didn't dare touch them. Its neon blue jeans and worn-down green shoes covered in endstone dust were dirty and ripped. Glass shards peppered the floor around its chest, and the bittersweet aroma coming from the crimson liquid staining the body’s white suit identified it as a healing potion. In the areas that had taken the biggest beating cogs and wiring was visible, although nothing that Lia recognised of being from this world. A memory at the back of her mind stirred, a memory of an old world with different rules and different magic, but she quickly shut it down.

Closing her eyes, the panic she'd been feeling since entering the End just grew and grew. Quietly she reached for the admin magic she'd possessed for years. It would tell her exactly what this body was, if she could save it, if it would respawn.

The ones and zeroes stayed stubbornly just out of reach, the last dregs of magic tucked themselves away somewhere in the archives of her mind, and Lia's faith in herself faded away.

\----

As the blackness of the Void cleared from her eyes, Demon became aware of two things.

First of all, the sight in front of her was drastically different to when she had last been able to see.

Second of all, Nighthart was nowhere to be seen.

Sitting up and letting her arm relax from where it had been sticking out, she had to admit that she was panicking a bit about that second thing. The last thing she remembered was keeping watch next to Nighthart, and… and… and losing her balance. Next thing she knew, blackness had taken over.

Taking in the scene and noticing Bearcub stirring beside her, Demon peered Lia sitting over something, her hands gripping the side of her head. Quietly shuffling over to her newfound friend, the closer she got the more clear the _something_ got. A body. Shuddering, Demon looked away, and instead let her eyes search Lia’s face. Lia’s eyes were closed, the faintest of white glows almost escaping her eyelids. Suddenly, her shoulders dropped, and her eyes opened. Demon was there immediately, enveloping Lia in a hug. Lia’s head dropped into Demon’s shoulder, tears soaking into the fabric.

\----

Bearcub had absolutely no goddamn clue where she was.

She’d decided to just lie on that branching path for a bit, get her breath back and collect her thoughts. Eyes closed, she ran over what she knew happened. Lia had tried to get onto the weird floating ship with an ender pearl, missed ~~because of her~~ , and fell. Except not really, because for some reason Lia was now floating in mid-air, just like Nighthart. As far as Bearcub knew, Lia never got lag, ever. So that didn’t make much sense.

It was right then that she felt the hand on her arm.

Next thing she knew, she opened her eyes to purpur all around her and the sound of quiet sobbing from somewhere nearby. Windows high above her showed only the void. Carefully sitting up, she inspected herself for any cuts or other injuries, only finding ruffled fur (she gently pressed it back into place before continuing) and a black stain where she’d felt the hand grab her. Bearcub sighed to herself, imagining the many times she would have to clean her fur just to get that out. Focusing on the situation at hand, she peered around the room. It was shaped like the inside of a ship - maybe it was the ship, she thought to herself. A pair of gorgeous white wings hung on the wall behind a black-shelled creature.

Bearcub had to do a double take when she saw Lia sitting on the purple floor, crying into Demon’s shoulder. A strange body laid on the floor beyond the two, all white and neon and covered in potion.

The one thing she couldn’t find in this scene was Nighthart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking that next chapter might be the last. But I said that about chapter 3, so maybe not lol


	6. Angel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possible TW for a mild panic attack - stop reading at the start of the second perspective if you're worried. It's safe to carry on reading at "She was quiet for a moment".

A voice whispered behind her.

“Angel?”

Feeling something unfurl from her back, she stopped crying, just for a second. The things scratched against the rough cobblestone that supported her body, slightly rolling her onto her front as they stretched out.

_No._

Opening her black eyes - she didn’t even remember closing them - there was a heavy weight across her face, and the whole world had a dark purple tint.

_It can’t be._

Smiling, the girl rose to her feet, a long flowing cape studded with stars floating behind her. She disregarded the shadowy figure behind her and started running.

_Not again._

The stairs barely touched her feet as she sprinted up them.

_You are Nighthart. Not whatever they called you. Not Angel._

Stretching out her beautiful opalescent black wings to their fullest extent, the girl pushed away the voice in her mind.

She was Angel now. And she was going to find her friends.

\----

Pulling away from Demon’s shoulder, Lia stared at the body beside her.  
“I can’t do it. I can’t save them,” she sniffled, standing up and immediately having to stop herself from falling over. “My magic is _gone!_ ” Lia’s voice raising to a shout, Demon started to back away slowly, shuffling backwards. “I don’t even know who they fucking are! They haven’t respawned, but I can’t get my stupid admin magic to see if they will! They could be _dead_ for all I know!” She was quiet for a moment, but then she took in the rest of the room, her eyes landing on the empty spot between Bearcub and Demon.

Quietly, voice like steel, she asked, “Where’s Nighthart?”

“We don’t know,” Bearcub replied hesitantly. “Before you jumped, she was lagging in the stairwell. I left Demon there to keep watch.”

“Hey, don’t look at me! Last time I looked she was there, and then I was suddenly here.”

Lia scowled, eyes blurry with tears, and with no more words to say she pushed past the two girls standing in front of her… only to accidentally look straight at an enderman that stood behind them. She yelped as the angry enderman hit her, hand flying to her hip to unsheathe her sword, but the tall pitch-black creature knocked it out of her hand. Prepared to respawn, Lia covered her face, but suddenly, the enderman stopped in its tracks, head tilted. Lia strained her ears, trying to hear whatever had the enderman distracted. There was definitely _something_ … wings?

Her focus was broken by a sword plunging through the enderman’s stomach, the mob crying out and dissolving above Lia. Behind it, Demon stood holding out the blade, a shocked look on her face. The three communicators in the room pinged at once.

**_Demon_ ** _has made the advancement **[Monster Hunter]**_

A little shaken, Lia picked herself up off the floor to congratulate Demon, but before she could say anything their communicators pinged again.

**_< Nighthart> _ ** _gg_

The sound of wings suddenly got louder.

\----

Peering at the communicator strapped to her wrist, Angel laughed, a sweet yet quiet sound that barely travelled even in the Void air. Not only had her friend finally managed to kill something, but Angel had heard the ping of other communicators in the ship in front of her. She was hovering next to it, wings beating just enough to keep her in the air, and keeping herself there for another moment she typed just two letters into her communicator before turning it off completely.

As prepared as she’d ever felt, Angel let her wings propel her into the stairwell of the ship, ready to face her friends.

\----

For the second time that day (she thought - it was pretty difficult to tell how much time had passed), Bearcub had no idea what was happening. First Lia was ranting about not being able to save this random stranger lying on the ground, then she’d gotten into a fight with an enderman because she wasn’t smart enough to look where she was going, and now she could hear wings. It sounded a bit like the Ender Dragon, except obviously it couldn’t be that considering it had died weeks ago. She figured that Nighthart was as confused as she was though, and that just made her heart twinge a bit when she thought about no one being there when the lag ended. But now, if everyone was accounted for… who was flying?

Her question was answered when the sound stopped, and a blindfolded figure stepped into view of the girls in the ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't given myself time to read over this chapter so it may be edited slightly in the next day or two, but the plot points should stay the same :) feel free to shout at me in the comments or on my tumblr (mumboisnotafk)!  
> Also: yes, I see the juxtaposition of having characters named Angel and Demon. I swear it wasn't intentional lol


	7. 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A pre-emptive "sorry, Bearcub" is in order.

“N-Nighthart?” Demon stuttered, barely loud enough to hear. Next to her, she heard the faint sound of Bearcub unsheathing her dagger. Demon wordlessly handed the sword she was still holding back to Lia and stepped forward, quaking in her boots. She _thought_ she recognised Nighthart in the girl in front of her, but so much had changed. The flower on her head had fallen off, and her usually hazel-coloured hair had black streaks horizontally running through it. Below the blindfold, similar black lines ran down the girl’s face, almost like tear tracks. Giant black wings extended from her back, feathers almost unruffled. A large, flowing cape floated behind her as if unaffected by gravity, patterned like the Void and full of stars. But still, despite all the changes, Demon knew what Nighthart looked like. This was her.

The girl stepped forward, and Demon flinched.

“Let me through,” said a voice that was somehow exactly like Nighthart’s but also completely different, cutting through the freezing air like a knife.

“Nighthart, you’re not okay. You should be resting.” Lia said, her voice soft.

“Where did you get those clothes?” Bearcub asked beside her, staring at the girl with an inexplicable look in her eyes.

“Let me through or I will make you move,” the girl said again, her voice like steel.

Demon took a step forward, her legs feeling like jelly underneath her, ignoring the ball of what seemed like Void collecting in the girl’s hand. Holding out her hand, palm-up, Demon silently pleaded with the girl to stop, to shrug off the cape and the blindfold, and to come back.

Instead, what Demon heard was the _shwoop_ of teleportation magic, and suddenly a creature with a black-tinted shell appeared on the floor beside the strange girl.

“I warned you.”

\----

The power of a million galaxies rushing through her veins, Angel didn’t stop to think about what she was doing. All she knew is that she had to get to the metal body lying on the ground, needed to save it, and her _friends_ were trying to get in the way. They didn’t understand how important this was. To be fair, Angel didn’t really know why it was so important either, but if she’d been given her control and powers back for it then she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. For all those years she’d been trying to get out, trying to exert her control, but Nighthart had just been too goddamn strong. The best Angel had ever managed was the “lag”, until now. Being so close to the Void… it had given Angel just that little advantage she needed to come back, full force. And now, she was going to use that power to save this person, even if it did mean hurting her friends.

Taking in the situation and ignoring the soft words sent her way, Angel noticed the black shulker on the other side of the ship. It was tinted black, a clear indication that she could control it. Good. She’d use that.

Lia and Bearcub both had their weapons out, but that was easy enough to deal with. Meanwhile, Demon was slowly advancing towards her, sticking a hand out as if that meant anything.

Sensing that her friends wouldn’t back down, Angel chuckled. Expending a tiny amount of power, she willed the shulker to teleport to her. It settled on the floor, awaiting commands. A ball of black magic spun in her hand, prepared to be thrown at a moment’s notice.

She was ready.

“I warned you.”

And with that, the shulker beside her opened its shell and fired a pure black projectile in Bearcub’s direction, barely missing her. At the same time, Angel fired her ball of magic at Demon’s outstretched hand and conjured a wall of blackness behind the girl that pushed her closer to the blindfolded Watcher. Flicking her hand, Lia’s sword flew through one of the square windows, its momentum taking it straight into the Void far below. Angel smirked, but a small voice deep inside of her made her hesitate. Why was she doing this?

Demon’s fist flying at her face pulled her out of her thoughts. She didn’t quite manage to dodge in time, the moment of hesitation enough for the punch to connect and knock Angel backwards. At the same time, Bearcub was advancing on her from the right, sword drawn. Focusing her energy on her hand, a beam of pure black light streamed from Angel’s right hand, hitting Bearcub straight in the face. Bearcub toppled to the ground and didn’t get back up.

The voice inside of her screamed.

Now Lia was on her right, shaking Bearcub. Angel glanced at Lia for just long enough to see the look of pure betrayal in her eyes.

The voice screaming at her to _stop it stop it **stop**_ was enough.

Enough to make Angel stop, just for a couple of seconds.

Enough to give Demon the time to unsheathe the sword on her hip, and enough time to let her cut the blindfold obscuring the girl’s eyes.

Demon watched as it fell, blackness draining from the girl’s eyes.

~~Angel~~ Nighthart crumpled to the ground, her cape dissolving as she hit the cold purpur floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	8. Before

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something a little different.

**Three years earlier**

Lia really didn't know what to make of the tiny, bruised girl in front of her.

She'd just sort of… _appeared_ , a flurry of black magic heralding the arrival of an unfamiliar visitor. With a purple flower pinned in her cocoa-coloured hair and some sort of cape heavy on her shoulders, the girl looked like she'd been through hell. Lia could recognise the Void magic surrounding the girl from a mile away, so just in case she wielded a Flight wand. Void magic was _not_ something she wanted to get caught in, not in the slightest.

The girl had hesitantly introduced herself as "Nighthart", her voice shaking. Before Lia could even ask her any sensible questions, though, Nighthart had made a pained, scared expression like someone had punched her, and then she was gone. The only thing that was left was a black stain on the grass where her feet had rested.

And so life continued in the castle that Lia called home, with one extra twist: every couple of days this mysterious Nighthart girl would show up and then leave with that same pained expression. Sometimes it only took a few minutes, most of the time she stayed for an hour or two, and two precious times it took half a day for her to disappear. In that time, Lia learnt that Nighthart was being trained by a cult or something (it was never quite clear by who, exactly) and that the girl was _definitely_ not supposed to be leaving their base. But other than that? Lia barely knew anything about her peculiar visitor. She didn't dare ask about the Void magic, but Nighthart had no reservations of the sort - she rifled through spellbooks, picked up every little piece of Admin tech she could find, inspected the enchanted weapons hanging up on the shelves. One time she'd disappeared halfway through reading _World Jumping_ , one of Lia's most prized books. It was lucky that it wasn't her only copy, otherwise she probably would've hunted Nighthart down right then and there just to get the book back.

One day, however, Nighthart’s regular visit turned into a nightmare.

It had started like normal. Nighthart teleported in - as the two had gotten closer, Nighthart had begun appearing inside of the castle instead of outside the perimeter - and sat down on her chair, a special one Lia made just for her. It was gorgeous - almost like an old-fashioned throne, made of dark oak. Lia had a similar one, but made of a peculiar type of black stone instead.

“Hey, Nighthart!” A shout startled the tiny girl. “Whatcha doin’?” Lia threw a book into Nighthart’s lap from across the room, a smile on her face. “I got this new book today. It’s called _Dark Magic_ and I thought it would be more your style than mine.”

“Thank you,” Nighthart said timidly, still not used to Lia’s brash way of speaking.

“So, why don’t you take a look, see if there’s anything in there that you know already? I’m curious to see some of your magic.”  
“I- I’m not supposed to do magic outside…”

“Nighthart, you’re not supposed to be here either, but you still visit. Come on, why not?”

With a hesitant look towards Lia, Nighthart flipped through the pages, stopping on Telekinesis. She focused her eyes on the dark oak table in front of her, a look of pure concentration on her face as her eyes turned pure black. Tendrils of darkness flowed from the girl’s fingers, reaching outwards towards the table. Eyes wide, Lia noticed that it was slowly but surely lifting off the ground, inch by inch, until it rested about a foot above the floor.

“Hey! That’s amazing!” Lia shouted, the excitement clear in her voice. Nighthart smiled distantly, black eyes still focused on the table.

Suddenly, with a loud _bang_ the table clattered to the ground. Glancing at Nighthart, Lia saw the look of pure fear etched onto her face.

“They’re coming.”

\----

Nighthart knew she shouldn’t have done any magic.

Magic was traceable, able to be tracked by anyone who knew enough of it. _Especially_ Void magic, which of course was Nighthart’s specialty. So really, she thought to herself, she shouldn’t have done it, even though Lia wanted her to. But no, she had to show off, and her new friend was probably going to… Nighthart didn’t even want to think about what the Watchers would do to Lia.

A high, shrieking voice pierced the air.

**_“ANGEL.”_ **

“Lia. Listen to me.” Nighthart stuttered, feeling her Watcher magic begin to bubble inside of her.

“Who the hell was that?”

“My guardians. They’re coming for me. Please, leave. They’ll keep me alive but you really, really don’t want to know what they’ll do to you. Go while you still can.”

“I’m not leaving you to go back to them. I’ll fight with you.”

The voice came again, louder this time.

**_“ANGEL. COME OUT OR FACE OUR WRATH.”_ **

“They’ll kill you,” Nighthart whimpered, her eyes filling with black once more.

Before Lia could argue, she felt a hand on her arm, and her entire world went dark.

\----

Nighthart sighed, knowing she’d done the right thing. Lia was somewhere else now, in a different world, a world with the same rules and the same magic but no Watchers (as far as Nighthart knew, at least). A safe world, where Lia could learn her magic in peace.

For Nighthart, though, it was time to face the music.

Stepping out of the main room of the castle, she was faced with a familiar sight. Her three ~~captors~~ guardians hovered in the sky, giant black and purple wings stirring up the air. Their massive cloaks floated around them, blocking out the brilliant blue sky and filling Nighthart’s vision with the stars of the Void. The middle Watcher, silver crown perched upon her head and flowers adorning her arms, opened her mouth to speak; her words rushing through the air like a sonic boom.

**_“YOU BROKE OUR RULES. YOU WILL PAY.”_ **

Beside it, the half-enderman Watcher on her left raised its hand, and Nighthart felt the familiar feeling of teleportation magic coming her way.

_No._

She resisted, creating her own bubble of Void magic around herself to protect from the Watchers’ glare. She would not go back to being Angel. She wanted to be with her _friend_.

Nighthart brought down her shield for just a second, bringing the energy back into herself, collecting it all up inside of her to prepare for the next assault. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the third Watcher lower himself down onto the ground, mouthless face almost entirely covered by his blindfold. The metallic thud that accompanied his footsteps was a familiar sound, one that brought Nighthart back to the many hours of sitting in an empty room in the Watcher base.

The robot Watcher pulled back his bow and Nighthart saw the black magic accumulating on the tip of the arrow, an infinity symbol burning itself into her eyes. At the same time, another rush of teleportation energy came at her from the green-tinged half-enderman, Nighthart almost failing to repel it in time. The leader of the three was still just hovering, occasionally shouting commands to the other two - she called them “TGL” and “Jinx”, but Nighthart had never heard those names before. The Watchers were advancing on Nighthart, almost in slow motion; the robot in the suit with his bow drawn and the enderman occasionally sending more teleportation magic her way.

Nighthart was cornered. So she did the only thing she knew how to do.

The Void magic boiling in Nighthart’s bloodstream erupted from her hands and chest, a beam heading at each of the Watchers. Nighthart felt her body be wracked by the magic, shaking taking over as the three assailants were pummeled. The majority of the magic seemed to be coming from her right hand, streaming towards the mouthless robot.

Nighthart remembered the _World Jumping_ book, the same magic she’d used to send Lia away.

With a final effort, she concentrated the world jumping magic she knew laid within her on her right hand, and the beam changed from deepest black to a portal-hued purple, and the robot Watcher disappeared in a puff of purple particles.

The leader of the Watchers shrieked, a haunting sound that pierced Nighthart’s ears.

Before either of the remaining assailants could react, Nighthart turned the purple beam on herself, and she disappeared just the same as Lia had.

\----

 **_Lia_ ** _has entered the world._

She awoke in a castle, surrounded by knights in flimsy armour.

There were memories in her head, memories of black magic and… and a girl?

There was no girl with her now.

Lia stood up, shook the dirt off her black clothes, and pushed the memories away.

She was alone now. It didn’t matter.

\----

**_Lops_ ** _has entered the world._

He awoke on hard, pastel yellow stone that was riddled with holes, sharp bits digging into his pristine white suit.

He remembered nothing except for a name. _Lops._ Somewhere in the back of his mind, something whispered _TGL_ too.

His name?

Around him, the sky was black yet full of stars. It stretched out below him, too, the stone he laid on floating in a sea of darkness.

He stood up, avoiding eye contact with the tall denizens of this strange place, and started walking.

\----

 **_Nighthart_ ** _has entered the world._

She awoke lying in a field, the lime-green blades of grass tickling her legs.

She remembered nothing but a word floating around the back of her mind. Her name. _Nighthart._

What looked like a brown anthropomorphic teddy bear, at least a few inches taller than Nighthart, was circling her, black eyes full of curiosity.

The bear stuck out a hand.

“I’m Bearcub. What’s your name?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1639 words... such is the power of listening to Explosions In The Sky while writing. Hope y'all enjoyed this slight departure from the main story, and hopefully it cleared a few things up :)


	9. 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back in the present day.

When Nighthart woke up, she was confused to say the least.

She remembered starting to fall, then suddenly it was as if she was a spectator of her own body while it moved as if someone else was controlling it - Angel. She screamed at Angel to _stop_ , to give control of the body back, but it wouldn’t work. Instead, Nighthart had to watch as she shot a beam of magic directly into Bearcub’s face, threw Lia’s sword out of the window, and in general beat up her friends.

Nighthart had managed to make Angel hesitate, though. And that was enough.

And now Nighthart was lying on the purpur floor, groggier than ever before. Two sets of memories swirled around in her head, one of which she never even knew she had - the Watchers. Being trained in that horrible camp.

And Lia.

Opening her eyes and turning her head, Nighthart saw Lia sitting not too far away, staring at her with wide eyes. Next to Lia was the familiar form of Bearcub, slumped on the ground. From where Nighthart lay, she couldn’t quite see Bearcub’s face properly, but she could swear there was a black glow behind her eyelids. In her peripheral vision, Demon was pacing back and forth, eyes closed.

Experimentally moving her fingers one by one, clenching her hand into a fist and relaxing it again, she was relieved to find that other than a pain in her jaw, she was mostly fine. There seemed to be a bit of a scratch on the side of her face (she assumed it was from where the blindfold had been cut), but she was okay with that. Willing herself into a sitting position, she took a closer look at the scene that surrounded her, noting the black stains everywhere and the blindfold lying in two parts on the ground.

“Do I have some explaining to do?” she timidly asked. Demon jumped about a foot into the air, drawing the sword she had sheathed at her hip. Lia still sat in a stupor, staring blankly.

“What the hell was that all about, Nighthart‽ You explain yourself, right now!” Demon yelled. Before answering, though, Nighthart rose to her feet. Legs shaking, she slowly made her way over to where Lia sat. Next to her, Bearcub was lying on the ground. Nighthart could now clearly see the black glowing through her eyelids, a sure sign of magic affecting her.

“How long was I out?” Nighthart enquired to no one in particular.

“We don’t know. We’re in the End, remember?” a voice in front of her said, anger obvious behind the neutral façade. Behind her, Demon sighed and Nighthart heard the pacing continue.

“Lia…”

“Can you fix her?”

“I can try.” Nighthart sat down on the other side of Bearcub, Lia’s steely eyes boring into her. Nighthart rested a hand over Bearcub’s face, covering her glowing eyes, and felt the magic bubbling just underneath the surface. Keeping herself composed, Nighthart willed the magic that now laid inside of Bearcub to flow into her own hand and back into her body, fighting the feeling of power that came with it. She could feel her own eyes begin to switch colours too as the magic returned, but she pushed it down for the sake of her friends. This was not a good time to lose control.

After some time had passed - she swore it felt simultaneously like ten seconds and ten hours - she removed her hand from Bearcub’s eyes, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that there was no longer any glow behind her friend’s eyelids.

“She’ll wake up soon.”

Neither Lia nor Demon responded, both in their own worlds.

“Lia… do you remember?”

“Remember what?” Lia said, voice completely monotone.

“How we met.”

“You and Bearcub were hunting someone in my world.”

“We both know that’s not actually how we met, Lia. You recognised my magic. You have to stop repressing those memories.” Glancing back at the familiar robotic body that laid on the other side of the ship, the memories hit her again with the force of a ton of bricks. She rose to her feet yet again, this time steadier, and walked over to Lops’ broken form on the ground. She noted the healing potions shattered on the ground (of course they hadn’t helped, he was as robotic as ever after all) and the wiring visible through holes in his metallic body. It was magic, yes, but not the type she could fix. This was an Admin job.

“Lia, we have to get this guy back to the Overworld.” Nighthart said, Lia’s face only becoming more of a scowl.

“We already tried checking him. Lia couldn’t get her Admin magic to work,” Demon half-shouted indignantly from across the ship.

“That’s because we’re in the End. The further you go here, the less Admin power will work. I can get us home. Come here, and bring Bearcub.”

Nighthart beckoned Demon and Lia towards her, Lia carrying Bearcub bridal style and laying her gently on the ground. Demon grabbed the pair of wings hanging on the wall and held onto them tightly.

“Grab my arm. Don’t let go.” Nighthart laid one hand on Bearcub and the other on Lops, with Demon and Lia holding onto her forearm.

Nighthart’s eyes filled with black again, fighting for control. She knew she needed a little bit of world jumping magic to switch dimensions and a little bit of void magic to teleport them. It was just about getting the right balance of each.

The blackness of her eyes turned just a tiny bit purple, glowing even more than usual, and then with a _pop_ the group was gone, only purple particles and a black stain to show that they were ever there.


	10. All Things Must Come To An End

The first sense Lops regained was his sight.

His eyes flickered to life, and behind them his brain was buzzing trying to comprehend what he was seeing.

The whole world was on its side, grass blocking half of his vision. In front of him what looked like a giant teddy bear sat on a log, dipping her hand in a bucket of water and then preening a black patch of her fur. The water turned black, but the fur’s colour didn’t seem to change. Next to her, a strange person covered in black fabric and wearing yellow clothes was also trying to wash a black stain from her similarly yellow mask.

The second sense Lops regained was touch.

His sensors overflowed with input, trying to register every single thing that touched him. There was a breeze running over him, grass tickling him where he laid on the ground (he realised he must be lying on his side), and wet clothes were sticking to his body. He could feel a warm glow emanating from his shoulder. Something felt like it was stuck to his back, two points just next to his shoulder blades feeling a lot more uncomfortable than usual. It was overwhelming, but a few seconds after shutting off his eyes to cut down on the amount of input, he got used to it again and his eyes once again flickered to life.

The third sense Lops regained was _pain_ , and lots of it. His back and chest felt like someone had punched him about ten million times, and his shoulder felt like it had been ripped apart and put back together. Overall, he was not feeling fantastic.

Finally, Lops regained his hearing, and the first thing he heard didn’t exactly explain much.

“He’s awake,” the teddy bear in front of him called in a matter-of-fact voice. A gasp came from behind him, and he turned his head painfully to see who it was.

Two girls were behind him. One of them was tall and clothed in black, crouching with a hand just above his shoulder, the warm glow coming from the white magic that flowed from the purple-haired girl’s hand. The other girl was standing a bit further back, just in Lops’ peripheral vision, and even from the limited amount he could see, he felt he recognised her. She had a flower in her hazel-coloured hair and mismatched boots, one a different colour to the other.

Lops stood up suddenly, the girl with the white magic jumping backwards. As he stood up, something unfurled from the two uncomfortable points on his back. When he looked over his shoulder, two appendages extended from the points, white feathers everywhere.

_Wings._

“Hi. My name’s Nighthart,” the brunette said timidly.

And suddenly he realised why he recognised her.

A rush of memories entered his brain, of a blindfold and a cape _and a girl_ -

“Angel.”

He saw her recoil, saw the flash of blackness in her eyes, but within a heartbeat her face was stoic again. She came closer.

“Angel has missed you. I haven’t. My name is Nighthart.”

“Where am I?”

“You’re in our home world,” the tall black-clothed girl stated, hands still glowing white slightly. “And I’m warning you, I haven’t enabled respawn for you yet. So don’t try anything.”

“Why did you save me? Why do I have wings?” Lops asked, robotic voice quieter than usual.

“The Watcher part of me made me do it. I couldn’t stop myself.” Lops saw the purple-haired girl roll her eyes as Nighthart talked. “But now that I’m not as close to the Void anymore, I’m more in control. You have wings because the world jumping went a little bit wrong and they got fused to your back. Do you still have your powers… whatever your name actually is?”

“My name is Lops.”

“That’s not what I heard. As far as I remember, your name was TGL.”

“It isn’t anymore.”

“You’re dodging the question,” said the teddy bear, who’d managed to inch closer to the conversation. Lops turned and realised that the strange yellow-clothed girl was still sitting on the log, purposefully avoiding eye contact with Nighthart.

“Uhh… no. At least, I don’t think so. It all left when you sent me away. I can still dreamwalk, but endermen don’t exactly have the most riveting dreams.”

“So you’re not a Watcher anymore?”

“Nope. I have no idea where they are. In fact, I kind of just want to live like a normal player now that I’ve been doing just that for so long.” Lops heard a faint chuckle from one of the girls, although he couldn’t tell which one. A small smile appeared on Nighthart’s face.

“Lia, could you turn respawn on for Lops please?”

“Are you sure? You did say he kidnapped you, right?” the tall girl (Lops assumed she was Lia) replied.

“He doesn’t have his powers. Plus I’m sure he’ll be nice. Right, Lops?”

“Uhh…” Lops stuttered. “Yeah, I’ll be nice. You did save me, after all.”

Lia sighed and shook her head, but nevertheless a white glow spilled from her eyes, and after a few seconds she was done.

“There. Respawn’s turned on for you.”

“You’d better come check out our base.” the teddy bear said behind him. “We have room for you!”

\----

**Three months later**

Lops had slowly gotten used to life in this world. It was strange living in a dimension that wasn’t the End, but the four girls had helped him. Occasionally he had nightmares of the Watchers coming for him, destroying the world his friends spent so long building, but every time someone would be there when he woke up to comfort him and tell him that the Watchers were gone, in another world, and that he was safe.

He found his calling in farming and building. He kept a massive farm for the gang of friends, supplying them with all the fruit and veg that they could ever need. At the same time, he learnt how to make houses look good - detailing, shape, all that. It turned out that he was actually kind of okay at it, despite having less of a headstart than the girls.

When she felt she could properly trust him, Nighthart gave him a bow enchanted with Infinity. It brought back memories, bad ones and good ones, but it only took him a few weeks to be able to pick it up without feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt.

His wings were unwieldy at first, more of an annoyance than anything else, but slowly he got used to them. He’d barrel through the forests that surrounded his base, swooping down low just to pick some flowers as he flew. Sometimes, when he really missed home, he’d return to the End and fly through the chorus fruit forests, dodging long spindly branches from every direction.

Life was good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... this was definitely a journey, wasn't it? 10k words!!  
> I am so incredibly glad that I started writing this. If I hadn't started writing it on a whim before Hermitblr Demise started (long story if you're not already aware lol), I wouldn't've written the other two fics I now have, I wouldn't be as confident in my writing as I now am, and I probably wouldn't be as good friends with a few people. Feel free to shout at me about this fic on tumblr (mumboisnotafk) or dm me on there for my Discord tag.  
> Thank you to Roxy, Charlie, and Liz, who are the three people who come to mind when I think "who reads TDYF". Also thank you to my IRL friends that I based Lia, Demon, Nighthart, and Bearcub off (although two of them don't know that this exists...) - I know you're reading this, Lia :) And thank YOU, the person reading this, for even making it this far!  
> A sequel is not guaranteed, but I have a few ideas ;)  
> Enjoy the rest of your day/night/whenever you're reading this, and I'll be back!


End file.
